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Manti Te’o’s senior season at Notre Dame can be best described as one of the weirdest and most compelling stories in college football.

Te’o, the runner-up in Heisman Trophy voting, finished with the most votes ever for a defensive player. Even though Notre Dame was blown out in a 42-12 loss to Alabama in the BCS National Championship game, one of the primary reasons they even made it that far was because of Te’o’s contributions. However, a poor performance in the title game and a catfishing scandal that put Te’o in the middle of a hoax claiming to have a fictions girlfriend who had died have raised some flags.

Those flags about his truthfulness and decision making – despite Te’o never breaking any laws – have likely removed Te’o from first-round draft boards by certain NFL teams.

Even though Te’o has found himself at the butt of many jokes, those jokes could hit closer to home as many mock drafts have the Ravens selecting Te’0 with the 32nd overall pick in next week’s draft. Many have questioned if Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome would even take a chance on Te’o, and fans got that answer on Tuesday.

When asked if the Ravens consider Te’o’s involvement in the catfishing hoax to be a character issue, Newsome replied, “Well, we had that question in our first meeting, and what’s the issue?”

As Newsome directed that question to reporters, one replied, “The issue of the fictitious girlfriend.”

“But is it beating women, is that using drugs, is it a DUI? How do you clarify that?” Newsome said. “I couldn’t.”

Newsome then turned to his left and asked assistant general manager Eric DeCosta, “Eric, can you?”

“Nope.” DeCosta replied.

Selecting an inside linebacker in the first round would carry major significance to the Ravens as it’ll be thought of as the eventual long-term replacement to retired legendary linebacker Ray Lewis. Not only will Te’o have to prove that his poor performance in the National Championship wasn’t a fluke, as he’ll face players better than Alabama on a weekly basis in the NFL, but replacing Lewis also adds pressure for leadership.

Head coach John Harbaugh was then asked if he trusted Te’o with possessing those leadership qualities and if he could count on him to eventually be a leader of his football team.

“I think we’ve answered that,” Harbaugh said. “Absolutely we do. We’re comfortable with him. We had a great interview. You look at his body of work, what he has accomplished, who he is as a person, where he comes from. We feel good about Manti .”

Personally, I believe there are far to many question marks surrounding Te’o and other long-term areas of need for the Ravens that can be filled with the final pick in the first round. If I was the one making decisions, I’d use the pick elsewhere; however, I’m not a professional football talent evaluator and if the Ravens decided to chose Te’o, fans should respect that Newsome and Co. have done their due diligence beforehand.

Aside from Te’o himself, there is a whole image the Ravens should be cautious about. After winning their second Super Bowl, the team is embarking on a new level of respect and scrutiny.

With Lewis now moving on in his post-football life, the Ravens have a chance to move on without the “murderer” baggage that followed him throughout the majority of his career. Even though it has become a non-factor in Baltimore, it’s a topic no one has forgotten in other football cities. The Ravens have a chance to start fresh with his successor and brining in someone with baggage such as Te’o – embarrassing baggage at that – I would just look elsewhere.

Rolando McClain will already need babysitting. There is no reason the Ravens should have to have one ounce of concern for their first round pick as they lay the foundation for their future.

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About Kris Jones

Kris - or "Goob" as he's widely known - has turned an obsession into a career. As a media member by day and super fan by night, he reports from the Under Armour Performance Center twice per week and brings Ravens news from a fan's perspective. His popular YouTube series Goobvision propelled his career and notoriety amongst Ravens fans, even helping him win the 2010 nationwide DIRECTV Ultimate Displaced Fan contest. He's been featured on shows such as The Jim Rome Show, ProFootballTalk Live, The Sirius XM Blitz with Rich Gannon and Adam Schein, Sirius XM's MadDog Radio, The Michael Irvin Show, Tony Bruno Show, Two Live Stews and FoxSports.com to name a few (or is that a lot?). He's caught a touchdown pass from Warren Moon during a flag football game and hates the Pittsburgh Steelers more than anyone else on the face of the earth.
Twitter: RavenManiac More from Kris Jones

Lombardi’s Way - A column from the 24×7 founder that focuses on the Ravens, the NFL, Baltimore, the world of sports or life’s inspirations.

Word on The Street - In the spirit of the CBS Sports Minute with Boomer Esiason, RSR brings you Word on The Street, a 90 second (or less) podcast on topics exclusively relating to the Baltimore Ravens.

Ravens Links - We’ll give you the best stories about the Ravens from around the web three times per week.

Fanimal - If you are an animal about the Baltimore Ravens, then you are a Fanimal! Follow the Russell Street Report blog Fanimal Crackers!

The Edgar Awards - The Edgar Awards will range from the Maryland county that is home to the best Ravens fans to the best Ravens podcast; from the best collection of displaced fans to the best local craft brews that should be part of your next tailgating party.

The Road to RSR - Our writers explains their journeys as fans and how they came to write for our little corner of sports media.